'Shades of Autumn': Pumpkins, Pony Rides & Playing on the Farm

We went to the Pumpkin Patch last weekend. We wound up going to the same one we went to last year. It has a lot for the kids to do, and they had fun so we figured we would stick with that one. It is on a farm in northern IL and the pumpkin patch & all of it's activities is called 'Shades of Autumn.' They had a blast - but it could not have been any more windy, which made it feel much colder than it actually was. My aunt was in town, so she came with us, my sister (aunt ChaCha) came, and my mom (Mimi.) It was a full group! My dad was on a golf trip for the weekend.. so he wasn't able to join us.
They have these huge bins full of corn kernels that you can jump around in. Seriously, it's probably at least 18 inches deep with kernels. (Last year, I was finding corn kernels in the washer and dryer (and in shoes and pockets) for days. This year really didn't end up being all that different. They continue to turn up in the most random places.

They had a blast on this little ride -

I love Drew's face in this picture - he was laughing SO hard!

We went on a hay ride, which takes you out to the pumpkin fields, with thousands of pumpkins that you pick off the vine.

Drew was loving the tractor and it's big tires. (He has a thing for tires. He takes all of the tiny little tires off of his toy cars and puts them back on. Or not.... I usually find little tires around the house.)

Emma found her pumpkin! She was absolutely certain that this was her pumpkin - from the second she saw it. I'm not sure what it was, but she was very attached to this thing.

The boys picking out a pumpkin.

They visited the animals in the petting zoo, went on pony rides, sat on some big tractors, and ended the day sharing a warm funnel cake.

I also bought some of the jelly and honey made on the farm - which is really yummy.

A glimpse of this time last year:

Clearly the temperature was slightly different from our trip this year!!

(They were so hot their little faces were bright red!)

And... Some of the pictures from jumping in the corn kernel bin last year:

We haven't carved the pumpkins yet.... So that's coming soon!!